Police intimadate community barbeque and speakout in Stockton, Calif 4.12.14

author: Cat n Mouse Freedom

A community barbeque and speakout was held on April 12 in Stockton, Calif., organized by the Inter Council for Mothers of Murdered Children. Dionne Smith and Carey Downs led the speakout, providing updates on their struggle for justice in the Stockton police killing of their son, James Rivera Jr.
Reposting from:
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2014/04/20/18754497.php

Vengeance of riot police on mothers of murdered children, who had the audacity to mourn together at a barbeque before a peaceful march - which was pre-empted by a military escalation. "After the speakout and before eating, people tried to leave the barbecue for a peaceful march to the police station and back, with young children holding a banner in the lead. A whole troop of police in riot gear came from out of nowhere, blocking any exit from the park from any side. After several attempts to get around them, people came back to eat the food, with the police still surrounding the park."

Other families came to talk about their children, including the Haynes family. Donald Ray Haynes was killed by the Stockton police this past Feb. 9. His father, Donald Haynes, is still trying to get simple answers like: "Why was the dash cam not working? Why was the storage camera [in the storage yard where he was killed] turned inwards instead of on the street like it usually is?"

Haynes stated: "The way the two cars were sitting, one of them should have been working. They won't release it [the tape], claiming it wasn't working."

After the speakout and before eating, people tried to leave the barbecue for a peaceful march to the police station and back, with young children holding a banner in the lead. A whole troop of police in riot gear came from out of nowhere, blocking any exit from the park from any side. After several attempts to get around them, people came back to eat the food, with the police still surrounding the park.

After everyone ate, the youth decided to try marching again. The police came right back and kettled everyone again. Then the youth started faking out the police directionally and found a hole in the police perimeter to get through. The march took off with the cops in hot pursuit. The police eventually chased everyone back to the park. But the youth kept playing cat and mouse with police, until the cops on foot got tired of running in their riot gear and brought out the motorcycle police.

After everyone left, the cops sent a story to the press saying that two youths caused a motorcycle cop to tip over, with the bike falling on his leg. They arrested two 19-year-olds for supposedly causing this. This didn't have anything to do with the march or barbecue, but the police are trying to tie this to this event.

WW photo: Terri Kay

Article copyright 1995-2014 Workers World. Verbatim copying and distribution is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved.

Stockton is infamous as a hopeless ramshackle Police-State. It is and always has been the anus of the Bay Area. The cops have been out of control there for umpteen decades, right in the middle of the great "Liberal" strongholds of the West. And they keep getting away with it. I'm not a cop hater, but I hate brutal cops and racist cops. Stockton has both in abundance. Drug of choice among the town's players? Methamphetamine by far. It's like someone dumped the set of "Boys 'n the Hood" onto the "Wizard of Oz". Shootings, stabbings, and rapes are a continual feature of daily life there. It has the worst biker, ex-felon, and gang elements imaginable. In the middle of this madness are thousands of below poverty line families actually trying to live normal lives and raise kids. Once you get to know it, Northern California is highly resistant to change of almost any kind. Especially overhauling cities that are terminal victims of an urban neglect that staggers the 21st Century mind. There should have been some lawyers standing in that street between the riot squad and those Moms. That's some really ugly Nazi shit.